I hope everyone had a nice Christmas break. The kids are all happy with their loot – which, thankfully, seems to become more and more manageable each year. We spent the couple of days after Christmas in a -25 degree Celsius deep freeze with a Harry Potter movie marathon (Snape gets to me every time!) punctuated by Just Dance 4 exercise breaks and the odd chess match (all practical, fun gifts, people). Mommy had herself a Michael Fassbender movie marathon in the evenings, and I can’t decide whether I want him to be my new pretend boyfriend or not. He’s almost too intense. I like my fake boyfriends pretty and bright, but not too scary. In any case, Jane Eyre was awesome, Shame was and remains disturbing and I can’t in good conscience recommend it because I’m not actually sure how I feel about it beyond the fact that it’s interesting directorially, and the acting is fabulous. And if you haven’t seen Inglorious Bastards, that’s a must-see. On tonight’s list – A Dangerous Method. When I commit to a theme, I commit to a theme.
Sunday before Christmas we managed to throw an intimate little cocktail party for 60 of our closest friends and family, ranging from ages 4 months to 65 years. I love this golden age my kids are at – the basement where they hung out was spotless (they didn’t want to have to clean on Christmas Eve) and the tween managed to stay up until 2:30 helping us clean up. Because my house is not actually meant to have this many people in it, and I certainly couldn’t manage a sit-down dinner for this many, I stuck to finger foods and simple but cute appetizers. I try to mix up hot and cold, as I only have one oven, and lenten (many Greek Orthodox fast before Christmas) and meaty. I had a few requests for recipes and some compliments on my “creativity,” for which I gave full credit to the Internet. Here are some highlights, with links where appropriate.
Annie’s Eats provided me with more than a few ideas for cute, simple appies. These cucumbers filled with garlic herbed cream cheese took all of two minutes to make, looked cute and would work really well for an afternoon tea or baby/bridal shower:
I also need to credit her with these beautiful candied cranberries that I used on crackers, as a garnish on various other trays, and as a treat in themselves. They literally disappeared!
And here they are on brie and crackers:
Here’s my cheese tray – some brie, herbed goat cheese, gouda and a strong Greek cheese called Kefalograviera which is a little like a goat-y parmesan. Feta was featured on the olive tray. I’ve just used some sugared cranberries and rosemary to garnish:
These tasty little heart-attacks on a platter are always the first things to go. My cousin’s wife’s uncle kind of brought this retro treat back and I’ve stolen it. I usually buy two or three huge packs of cocktail weiners, and another five or so packs of bacon. Wrap the bacon around the weiner, stick a toothpick in and voila! I then freeze them in batches of 25 or so, so there’s always a quick appetizer in case of company. Just heat them up at 375 Celsius until they are well done and crispy.
And because there’s really no such thing as too much bacon, these are another one of my favourites, courtesy of the Pioneer Woman:
My husband requested meatballs, but I couldn’t bring myself to fry in the house with company coming, which is how our moms usually make them. So I made Greek-style meatballs the day before (ground beef, onion, garlic, egg, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, oregano), stored them in the fridge on cookie sheets, and baked them in the oven at 375 Celsius for about 20 minutes until they were well done. They tasted just as good without the mess and smell.
Finally, for the carb-lovers, I threaded tri-colored cheese torteilini that had been marinated in pesto and olive oil on a skewer with cherry tomatoes and served them in glasses along the island among the rest of the food. They looked pretty, like little Christmasy floral arrangements. Edible centrepieces are the best.
There was a veggie tray, some dips, lots of crackers and breads, deli meats and cheese pitas and sausages and ribs, as well as shrimp and salmon. The dessert table fwas full of Greek and non-Greek Christmas cookies, and cakes and candy. Here’s a snapshot of part of the island/buffet:
In the end, nothing was left over. Not a crumb! Which is just how I like it. The key is to prep as much as you can in the days and even weeks before (freezers are awesome!), start the oven early. and don’t panic. And thank God for the internet!
Wishing everyone a happy new year full of cute appetizers, cocktails, love and friendship.
misplacedmysassy 